THEIR EYES WERE OPENED: THE GATHERING OF DISCIPLES

A Sermon by Pastor Chico Martin

January 15, 2017

Lections Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42

 

We want to be with Jesus.  Our hearts long to be in the presence of God, and our longing is no stranger to creation.

The Baptist, in today’s Gospel reading from John, identifies Jesus as the Messiah; that is, the Baptist recognizes the Anointed One, not from previous encounters, but from prophesy.  This doesn’t mean John hasn’t played, as a child, with Jesus; we gather from Mary’s visit to Elizabeth he has.  Rather, the Baptist is acknowledging the sacred role of Scripture and its treasury of Wisdom. All of Israel longed for the Messiah, but who he was and when he would appear was shrouded in the mystery of divine promise. On the banks of the Jordon, at his appearance, the Baptist points to Jesus as he is first revealed: in Scripture.  Only then does the Holy Spirit descend from the heavens and alight on the shoulder of Jesus, identifying him as “God with us,” so we can come to know God through experience.  The expectations of the Divine promise to Israel is fulfilled and the mystery of God’s Chosen One revealed.  We are brought “with the whole of creation” to the glory of God, “hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Still, experience has limits.  As Tim Hughes sings in this morning praise song, “I’ll never know how much it cost/to see my sin upon that cross.” The cost of what God does for us is why we worship and bow down to him; the cost of what God does for us makes him “all together worthy, all together lovely, altogether wonderful” to us. The greatness of our Lord is the greatness of his love and mercy.   Continue reading →

An Epiphany Sermon by Pastor Chico Martin

Lections Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17

 

Today we hear the familiar story of the Three Kings from the Orient who followed a star to Bethlehem, to be in the presence of God and make an offering of their gifts. Sometimes these travelers are called Wise Men, and their Wisdom explains the joy they experience.  When we follow their lead, where do we go to be in the presence of God? What offerings do we bring with us?  And do we share the joy the Wise Men felt, at seeing God?

I have been told that Christians endlessly repeat unpersuasive accounts of their faith; innovation is wanted, to engage the mind.  Keeping in mind our three questions, I will try to address this objection.   Continue reading →

An Eighth Day Sermon by Pastor Chico Martin

January 1, 2017

Lections Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:15-21

 

“that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

-Philippians 2:10-11

 

 

We begin with a question: what lies in a name?  The Anglican and Methodist churches set aside the eighth day after Christmas to celebrate the Holy Name of Our Lord: Jesus, “the name given by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb.” Just as Christians are given a name when they are baptized, Jewish males were named on the day they were circumcised, for names were regarded as signs that pointed at a person’s significance in sacred history.   The name Jesus signified the fulfillment of the expectation of the Annunciation. The words for the Troparion, or Hymn for the Day, sung in the Orthodox Church, say: “Enthroned on high with the Eternal Father and Your Divine Spirit, / O Jesus, You willed to be born on earth of the unwedded handmaid, your Mother. / Therefore You were circumcised as an eight-day old Child. / Glory to Your most gracious counsel; / glory to Your dispensation; / glory to Your condescension, O only Lover of mankind.”  Several strands of the meaning given to the Holy Name of Jesus are mentioned in this hymn.   Continue reading →